Wire winding machines for continuously and successively winding wire about reels or spools are known in the art. Such devices are standard equipment for storing and delivering wire and depending upon their size, they are referred to as either "spools" or "reels". For example, spools are generally sized about 6-10 inches in diameter and above this size they are normally referred to as "reels". Both reels and spools are contemplated herein. However, for convenience of illustration, they will generally be referred to herein as "reels".
In general, the wire and the reel are separately supplied to the machine and the winding is accomplished by the machine after which the fully wound reel is removed at the output of the machine. Some machines provide a pair of winders so that when one reel is fully wound the wire may be cut and transferred to an adjacent reel for winding. During the winding process of a given reel, the fully wound reel is discharged automatically or manually and an empty reel is supplied for winding. The cycle is continuously and sequentially repeated.
Wire winding machines of the type described usually operate at extremely high speeds and subject the components to substantial stresses and substantial resulting wear. In particular, the objective of fully winding a plurality of reels with industrial wire with minimum loss of time between reels will necessarily involve substantial load factors due particularly to the repeated action and changes of direction of the components during the loading, winding, transfer and unloading processes.
In a typical machine, empty reels are normally supplied to the machine and positioned and grasped for wire winding. After the wire winding has been completed, the reels are sequentially released and discharged from the machine. In some cases, the fully wound reels are discharged automatically by the output section of the machine. In other cases, the fully wound reels are removed by an operator.
One example of a continuous wire winding machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,564. This patent relates to a dual reel continuous wire winding machine with a robotic reel loading mechanism. The continuous wire winding machine has a pair of flanges connected by a central core and a conveyor for supplying empty reels to and removing wound reels from the machine. Two pairs of arbors are provided for gripping and rotating the reels for winding wire thereabout. One of each of the pairs of arbors is driven. A transfer mechanism is provided for transferring empty reels from the conveyor and fully wound reels to the conveyor and includes a pair of robotic arm assemblies. A shaft is provided to mount each robotic arm assembly for oscillation through an arc of 180.degree.. A first gripper is provided for grasping an empty reel at one end of the assembly and a second gripper is provided for grabbing the wound reel at the other end of the assembly. Driving means mounts the grippers for moving them between an outwardly extending position and an inwardly retracted position relative to the assembly and the shaft.
Other examples of such machines are known in the art for winding wire onto reels on a regular basis. None of these devices, however, are capable of providing wound reels of wire at speeds which meet commercial high speed requirements. I have invented an apparatus and method whereby high speed winding is achieved by dividing each reel winding operation into separate steps on a rotating turret mechanism which divides the high speed reel loading and winding process into convenient stations.
A power driven rotary apparatus is disclosed for winding wire onto reels which comprises a power driven turret having at least two stations, each station receiving and supporting a reel about which wire is to be wound. The turret has a generally circular configuration and is mounted for rotation. A reel to be loaded is mounted on a first station in a first position of the turret. The turret is then rotated such that the reel is moved to a second position. The wire to be wound is directed onto the reel when located at the second position, which is rotated to wind the wire onto the reel. Rotation of the reel stops after a predetermined amount of wire has been wound thereon. Reels are sequentially mounted onto the turret to provide a substantially continuous and sequential wire winding procedure.
The turret preferably includes at least four stations, which upon rotation of the turret pass successively through a reel loading position, a wire winding commencement position, a wire winding completion position, and a reel unloading position. Typically, the reel loading position is at three o'clock as viewed from the front of the turret, and the wire winding commencement position is at twelve o'clock. The wire winding completion position is at nine o'clock, and the reel unloading position is at six o'clock.
A motor driven pulley and belt system selectively rotates the reels at the positions for appropriately winding the wire around the reels. The motor driven pulley and belt system comprises two motors, each driving a separate system of pulleys via toothed belts. Each station comprises a rotatable shaft carrying two pulleys, one of which is engaged to the shaft so that it drives the shaft when it is rotated, and the other of which freewheels on the shaft so that it does not drive the shaft when it is rotated. The freewheeling pulleys act as idlers, keeping proper tension on the belt. Each pulley of each pair engages only one motor and belt system as the station at which it is carried moves from position to position. Therefore each separate shaft is driven throughout its movement by a particular motor and belt system. The pulleys on adjacent shafts are arranged so that adjacent shafts are driven by different motor and belt system. The pulleys may be engaged by the belts at the winding commencement and completion positions, and additionally over all or part of the path the pulleys follow when moving between those positions, so that the belts are tensioned at all times and the reels are driven continuously.